Practice leads to perfection

Wednesday

Jan 23, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Molly McGowan / Times-News

For members of the East of Elon Home Brewing Cooperative, making beer is both an art and a science. But they like to have fun, too. The group meets every other week, and each meeting’s brew is “sponsored” by a member who determines which beer is made, buys the ingredients and creates it. During its last meeting of 2012, Ricardo Ramirez of Greensboro prepared a batch of Dead Ringer IPA (India Pale Ale), guided by the group’s founder, Ian Baltutis, of Burlington. Meanwhile, East of Elon members sampled one of three previously-prepared batches, straight from the taps Baltutis installed in his home. After graduating from Elon University in 2008, Baltutis moved into a house with a friend who had homebrewed beer in college. Baltutis said they started making beer together and since one batch equaled 5 gallons, “We realized we had a lot of beer to drink.” The two invited friends to come by, who in turn became interested in the brewing process. “Now we’re up to a little over 70 members,” from Elon, Burlington, Greensboro and Mebane, said Baltutis. About a year after the group started, Baltutis built a tap system connecting the kegs in his garage refrigerator to three taps in the kitchen island, complete with funky tap handles; the group circulates a trophy topper, an old tap handle found at a flea market, and a repurposed video game joystick. “The options when you’re a homebrewer is to bottle or to keg,” Baltutis said. He said East of Elon kegs its beer, since the process requires less equipment and, “It’s easy to clean one keg … compared to 50 bottles.” Baltutis said, “In beer, sanitation is key.” In fact, that’s why East of Elon has had so many successful brews. Baltutis said many new members watch the group’s brewing process and learn “bad batches” made at their own homes may have simply been the results of poorly-sanitized carboys, or primary fermenters.

Homebrewing is a continuous learning process, which Victor Hoerst, of Burlington, witnessed firsthand when East of Elon had to bottle — instead of keg — his batch of “Acrimonious Amarillo Ale” for the “Fat Frogg and Natty Greene’s American Pale Ale Brew Off” in November. Hoerst said since they used bottles, the group had to add sugar to the beer to create carbon dioxide and pressurize in the bottles, then let them sit. Hoerst said they were only able to let the bottles sit for a day and a half before submitting them for the contest. “It wasn’t long enough,” and there was a carbonation problem, Baltutis said. As its membership and interest grows, so does East of Elon’s beer-making options. The group recently purchased an old freezer that Baltutis converted to a lagering cooler, after he “hot-wired it to run at 58 degrees.” Baltutis explained while ales are fermented at room temperature, lagers require fermentation at lowered temperatures. Since East of Elon didn’t have the lagering cooler in the summer, its members had to wait to make their “Oktoberfest” lagers in October. So this season the group’s a little behind. It will have its seasonal lagers ready this month, or what they’re calling, “Jantoberfest.” Baltutis said they’ll also be making a “witches brew” from leftover brew kits. “Over a period of a year, we end up with miscellaneous ingredients,” he said, adding that East of Elon is pursuing going all-local. Justin Lee of Burlington said East of Elon — like most homebrewers — typically orders supplies and kits online from Northern Brewer, but members are starting to buy what they can from Company Shops Market in Burlington. “The co-op’s now matching or beating (Northern Brewer) prices for the grain,” Lee said. Baltutis said he’s also exploring other options. He said Haw River Farmhouse Ales, coming soon to Saxapahaw, has cultivated wild strains of local North Carolina yeast and refined it for beer making. River Bend Malt House in Asheville germinates and roasts malt grain, and Battleground Brewers Guild in Greensboro has a hops farm. “Now we’ve got all the ingredients for beer locally provided,” Baltutis said. To become a dues-paying member of the local cooperative, or just to learn more, check out the East of Elon Home Brewing Cooperative group page on Facebook.